Disbursements

A disbursement is any outbound payment from an SPV. The most common type is sending pooled investor capital to the portfolio company (the startup being invested in), but disbursements also cover service payments (legal, accounting) and investor paybacks.

Disbursement Types

There are three types of disbursements:

• Capital Deployment -- sending the investment to the portfolio company. This is the most common disbursement and typically happens after all funding closes are settled. The destination is a Counterparty record representing the portfolio company.
• Service Payment -- paying third-party service providers (lawyers, accountants, fund administrators) from the SPV's operating account. The destination is also a Counterparty record.
• Investor Payback -- returning funds to an investor's bank account (via ACH credit). This is used for refunds or distributions. The destination is the investor's Bank Account.

The Approval Workflow

Every disbursement goes through a four-step lifecycle. No money moves until the disbursement is dispatched -- either automatically after a cooling period or manually by an admin.

1. Draft -- the disbursement is created with all details (SPV, destination, amount, type). No money has moved. The admin can review the destination, verify the amount against the SPV's available balance, and check that the recipient is properly set up.

2. Approved -- an admin has reviewed the disbursement and confirmed it looks correct. The system checks that the destination is ready to receive payment and that the SPV has sufficient funds. Once approved, the disbursement enters a cooling period (see below) before it is automatically dispatched.

3. Dispatched -- the payment has been triggered. A Payment Order is created and sent to the payment provider. At this point, money is in motion and the disbursement cannot be cancelled through the platform.

4. Completed -- the payment provider confirms the payment has settled. The disbursement is final.

If something goes wrong at the approved or dispatched stage, the disbursement moves to Failed with a reason explaining what happened.

Cooling Period and Automatic Dispatch

When a disbursement is approved, it can optionally have a cooling period -- a scheduled delay before the payment is sent. The "Dispatch After" timestamp controls when the disbursement becomes eligible for automatic dispatch.

• If the Dispatch After time is in the future, the disbursement waits in the Approved state until that time passes.
• If no Dispatch After time is set (or it is already in the past), the disbursement is eligible for immediate dispatch.

A scheduled job runs every 15 minutes and automatically dispatches all approved disbursements whose cooling period has elapsed. This means admins do not need to manually click "Dispatch" -- once a disbursement is approved, it will be sent automatically when the time comes.

Expediting a Disbursement

If a disbursement is approved and still within its cooling period, an admin can expedite it -- bypassing the remaining wait time and dispatching immediately. This is intended for time-sensitive situations (e.g., a portfolio company needs capital urgently).

Expediting is only available when the disbursement is approved, still within its cooling period, and the destination is ready to receive payment. An audit log entry records who expedited the disbursement and the original scheduled dispatch time.

What Admins See Before Approving

The disbursement detail page shows everything an admin needs to verify before clicking "Approve":

• SPV and source account -- which SPV's operating account the money comes from
• Destination details -- who receives the payment, including bank details (masked for security) and whether the recipient is registered with the payment provider
• Payment readiness -- a clear "Ready" or "Not Ready" indicator showing whether the destination can actually receive the payment
• Balance check -- the SPV's available balance compared to the disbursement amount, with a clear indication of whether funds are sufficient
• Breakdown -- a summary of what the disbursement covers
• Activity log -- a full audit trail of every action taken on this disbursement

Creating a Disbursement

Disbursements can be created in two places:

• From the SPV page -- click "Create Disbursement" on any open or closed SPV. This pre-fills the SPV and shows only counterparties linked to that SPV.
• From the Disbursements page -- create a new disbursement from scratch, selecting any SPV and destination.

For capital deployment and service payments, you select a Counterparty as the destination. For investor paybacks, you select the investor's Bank Account.

When Disbursements Happen

Capital deployment disbursements typically happen after:

• All funding closes for the SPV are settled and investor capital is confirmed
• The SPV is ready to close (or has already closed)
• Legal paperwork is complete (subscription agreements signed)
• The ops team has verified the total amount

Service payment disbursements can happen at any time during the SPV's life when bills need to be paid.

Investor payback disbursements happen when capital needs to be returned to an investor (refund scenario) or when distributions are being made.

Ledger Impact

When a capital deployment disbursement completes, the ledger records:

• Debit the Portfolio Investment account -- the SPV now holds an investment asset
• Credit the SPV's cash account -- cash leaves the operating account

This entry is created automatically when the payment settles. For service payments and investor paybacks, the ledger entries follow their respective patterns (fee settlement or refund).

Tracking Disbursements

Each disbursement creates a Payment Order that can be tracked independently. The Payment Order shows the payment method (wire for counterparty payments, ACH credit for investor paybacks), the provider reference ID, and the current settlement status.

The Disbursements page in the admin panel provides filters by SPV, type, and state, with scopes for quick access to actionable (draft or approved), in-flight (approved or dispatched), and terminal (completed or failed) disbursements.